But still, with my head held high am proud of myself for the fact, “Yes, I am a Bihari” but before that,

‘I am a Proud Indian!’

It was midnight when the train for some 1st yr. Engineering students was delayed by eight hours. The young people decided that they would not spend the night on the isolated railway station in Kalyan (Mumbai) and decided to go take a room at the nearby hotel for the night. They went to a hotel close to the station, where initially they were very warmly welcomed at the reception. As is customary, the students were asked to make an entry in the register placed at the reception table. They filled in all the details, but a tiny phone number changed everything. The students were confused as to which number they should enter, the one which they used in the hostel at Dawangiri (Karnataka), or the number they used back home in Patna. Sensing their discomfort the receptionist looked at their confused faces and watched them converse in their mother tongue. Within minutes he closed the register and all of a sudden informed them that there was no room available. The students stood perplexed as to what had changed within minutes. It was then that they were asked where they were from. As soon as the students mentioned the name “Bihar” the manager asked them to leave at once. The students had no place to go and spent the night sleeping on the chairs at the station.

One of the students who bore the brunt that day for nothing at all was my brother. This is one of the many incidents that we as Biharis face. Every Bihari has to face some or the other mental disturbance owing to the lack of friendly treatment that they get outside their state. The next incident I recount is the reason why I found it imperative to write this article. This simple incident that happened with my sister, made me question, ‘Why?’

My sister an excellent student is a graduate with history majors, and holds an M.B.A. She went for a job interview in a school in Gurgaon. The principal was very impressed with her and the job was almost fixed, till she asked a very minor question at the end of the interview, as to where she hailed from. On hearing the answer the principal denied the very same person who impressed her a few minutes ago the job which otherwise she was fit for. The answer : “BIHAR!”

“BIHARI?” At times I look at this word and wonder as to what’s wrong with the word, why the single word ruins a career, causes a job denial, a shelter- denial? Why is Bihari always a criminal mind for others?

Above all my question to the readers : ‘Is being Bihari a crime?’

How long will we have to listen to the abuses within our mother land and for how long will we have to go through the embarrassment of being a Bihari?

It is distressing, when the educated Indian reiterates such hurtful statements. Often during discussions on India or any topic related to Bihar I hear only the negative side of the State being highlighted. We sometimes speaks through our own experience and many a time we speak through other’s experiences. Bihar has been a victim of bad governance for 15 years (which is too long) but today it is trying to uplift itself despite the odds. Bihar was recently awarded for the fastest growing states of India. Still people continue to believe in the myth that it is the most poor backward, illiterate state of the nation. And thus ‘Bihar’ has become the synonym of, corruption, violence, failed governance, backwardness, and poverty.

There are a lot of hidden facts about Bihar that people are unaware, Given below are just few of them:-

1.Bihar has comparatively more no. of graduates than Kerala and Andhra Pradesh combined.

2.As compared to Maharastra and Gujarat, the number of ‘Biharis’ in the IIT field is more. In fact 17 just from one district “Gopalganj”.

3.The crime- rate in Mumbai is double that in Bihar. (unlike the common misconception that people still hold.)4. The number of people killed in communal wars in Bihar is 1/75th of Gujarat.

5. Bihar produces a greater amount of wheat than Punjab.

6.Bihar consist of more number of literate people as compared to Kerala and Karnataka together.

8.Bihar is the only state in India where till date no farmer has committed suicide.

9.The number of female graduates in Bihar is more than those of any other state.

Bihar's History is one that every Indian ought to be proud of:

1. It was here that Buddha gave his first thought.

2.It’s the place where Rishi Valmiki wrote Ramayana, the greatest epic of the world.

3.It’s that very place where Chanakya wrote his first book on Economics.

4.It is the land where Lord Mahavira founded Jainism.

5.The father of surgery, Rishi Shushrut lived in this soil.

6.The Kamasutra was written here, by Vatsayana.

7.It was the land of Ashoka the Great.

8. Aryabhatt, the most ancient mathematician was from Bihar.

9.It’s the place which still preserves the world’s best and the most ancient university, “The Nalanda University”

10.Ashoka chakra comes from the very place Bihar, which today adorns India’s national flag.

11.It gave India it’s first president, Dr Rajendra Prashad.

12.This soil had produced a lot more eminent writers, poets and artists.

13.Sher Shah who defeated the mightiest Mughal Emperor and who introduced the Postal System and Rupiya in India was born in Bihar.

14.The 10th guru of Sikh was born in Bihar

15.Mahatma Gandhi started the civil disobedience movement from Bihar.

16.Ramdhari Singh Dinkar the National Poet of India was born in Bihar.

We might know some of the facts stated above but many, we don’t. It’s time that we should stop following or repeating talks that we have been hearing since ages and via highly unreliable sources. If we really want to comment about anything, we should and must know the facts about it first. And why do we even have to comment on it anyways? And if it is a problem, it still is a part of India and it’s our duty to cure it, just the way we take care of each and every part of our body . We call biharis “Bloody Biharis” in India. But when we go to other countries we become “Bloody Indians” and that’s when it hits us.

If India is the 2nd most populated nation of the world, Bihar is the 3rd most populated state of India.

If India Brains are appreciated, Bihari Brains are very much an integral part of it.

If India is rich in history , Bihar has only added to the richness.

If India is rich in it’s culture, tradition, colour, festivals, Bihar has contributed just like all the other 27 sisters she shares home with.

Each and every district, state together constitute in building the nation, “India”, therefore each states is equally important whether it be Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand or Bihar.

Migrant labour of Bihar contributes to 50% of the total work force nationally, it’s sad to say that workers are busy building other’s home while their own home has no ceiling. But still they built homes happily because they think about nation building on the whole and not just about building up a state.

Remember: Small bricks together built up a strong house, but one strong brick alone cannot build up a house.

According to the recent report of IBN7 the Rural Migrant rate in Bihar has been brought down by 1/3rd due to the new economic scheme of the Bihar government. Have we ever thought of the consequences as to what will happen if all the Biharis return back home?

There will be no chai walas, no rickshaw pullers, no vendors, no maids, servants, nothing, it’s because Biharies believe in the Dignity of Labour. They are happy, and honest in every work they do, no matter how hard they have to work to feed their hungry children. They are the people who know how to smile in every circumstances.

Preamble of India

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolve to constitute India into a SOVERIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all it’s citizen :

JUSTICE, social economic and political

LIBERTY, of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity

And to promote among them all

FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of individual and the unity and integrity of the nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBELY this twenty-sixth day of November,1949, DO HEREBY ADOPT,ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTUTION.

We, in our Preamble, say that we are SOCIALIST, but are we really socialist? Because all I have seen around me is that we have always been discriminated, if not on the basis of caste and creed, then on the basis of Region, Religion, Language ,Culture etc.

We talk about EQUALITY. Does equality mean forcing our own brethren out and can we call ourselves equal when ?

And we talk about FRATERNITY. Where is fraternity ? when we cannot welcome our own brothers and respect them for who they are just because they belong to some other part of the country?

Sometimes I am frustrated into asking why are we ever having this entire concept of single citizenship in India, because if the above is the situation, I feel it’s farcical. In reality we are beating our own brothers and sisters and kicking them away and we do not allow them to stay if they come from other state. If we all agree to this then why aren’t we having the concept of Dual Citizenship like those in U.S.A and other countries? Why are we having one thing in our constitution and entirely opposite thing in practical life?

Is the Preamble, the very first page of our Indian constitution been reduced to a mere page to read?

So it’s India who actually needs the help because the states are only the parts dwelling in the body, India. And it will be possible only when we start the work at the grass root level. Let’s not forget,

If a Village shines, the District will shine,

If the District shines, the States will shine,

If the State shines, the Nation will shine.

If the Nation shines, India will shine, and

If India shines, the World will shine!

Bihar has been a victim of bad governance and has remained in darkness for a long period. But today it dreams of a better tomorrow. Let’s give a helping hand for it to get up and surge forward so that it may contribute more in the nation building process. And why only Bihar? There are other states too who are in need of help economically, culturally and politically. We need an over all sustained growth if we want to restore the India of the old.

And as far as Bihar is concerned, it will shine again one day like it always did. It will take some time, but it is all ready to move ahead and shine again because, “I am ready” ! And if i am ready, Bihar is ready, because I, as an individual, believe that if I work for the upliftment of Bihar I will be able to make a difference and create a change!

I was denied a room(on rent) in Patna,the moment the reverend landlord came to know that I am from a lower caste.If I visit Delhi or any other city I prefer somebody from other state rather a upper caste Bihari.The former treats better.Jews carry their history on their faces.A lower caste Bihari carry his past as well as present.

The Biharis are honest. Hardworking. The main workforce in Punjab, J& K, Mumbai and many places including Delhi are biharees. The treatment Biharees get in Bihar is shameful. I have had workers, painters, security guard and others from time to time... they say they are happy to be here in Maharashtra,inspite of difficulties they face. as they face no discrimination on the grounds of caste,It is natural for locals to feel resentment over job loss, the same is world over the americans face the same against Indians. The Biharees have to blame themselves for this state of affairs. Once a rich and vibrant state has degenerated into a poverty ridden due to politics. if all biharees come together and continue to elect good leaders like they have done now.I have no doubt that Bihar will a leading state in India. The problem is bad governance. Don't blame others for the treatment you get. You have to earn the respect. The maharashrians don't go around requesting for respect. they are happy in their own state. The maharashtrians now are going the same way.. degenaration, and bad governance. Once a developed state it is slipping now..law and order situation, unemployment, are some of the indicators...

1. Bihar has comparatively more no. of graduates than Kerala and Andhra Pradesh combined.

- It also has more illiterates. Additionally, most of the so called graduates from Patna University are functionally illiterate. Not to speak of the so called universities in the hinterland.

2. As compared to Maharastra and Gujarat, the number of ‘Biharis’ in the IIT field is more. In fact 17 just from one district “Gopalganj”.

- Because Biharis enjoy wasting their time 'preparing' for IIT competitive exams in kaccha and banian until they are 21 years old. In the meantime, the Gujarati has earned a degree, moved to the US, and already has a six figure dollar income. The Bihari places no value on time and money.

3. The crime- rate in Mumbai is double that in Bihar. (unlike the common misconception that people still hold.)

- And the kidnappings, murders, caste wars, naxalism?

4. The number of people killed in communal wars in Bihar is 1/75th of Gujarat.

- Unverifiable.

5. Bihar produces a greater amount of wheat than Punjab.

- It also produces a much lower amount of wheat both per capita and per hectare. Punjab is a much smaller state than Bihar in size.

6. Bihar consist of more number of literate people as compared to Kerala and Karnataka together.